What does
'thinking outside the box or outside the nine dots mean to you? We have to be careful that these sort of catch
phrases do not become such a cliché, through overuse as trite slogans and
advertising tag lines, that we do not take the time reflect on the powerful
concept that they are meant to encapsulate.
Thinking outside the box is to think differently, unconventionally or from a new
perspective. This phrase often refers to novel, creative and smart
thinking. This is sometimes called a
process of lateral thought or divergent thinking.
The "nine dots" puzzle.
So, where am I going with this?
So, where am I going with this?
The goal of the puzzle is to link all 9 dots using four straight lines or less, without lifting the pen and without tracing the same line more than once. One solution appears below. |
One of many solutions to this puzzle is to go beyond the boundaries to link all dots in 4 straight lines. |
If you recall, I recently spoke on the topic of 'You are what you eat' which highlighted that we
really do create our own destiny, whether we are aware of it or not. Well, this month I would like to discuss how
we must not accept a destiny that has merely happened to us, if not even thrust
upon us. Let me elaborate...
We
recently had a consulting firm come in and perform a DNA screening for everyone
in the department. Guess what we
found? You are all extraordinary people with
the potential to do anything you choose.
Inadvertently, our antiquated, educational system has trained us to
believe there is only one answer, and it can only be found at the back of the
book. Sadly, we have had our creativity
and zeal drummed out of us be the time we complete our education, having been
churned out the system in batched, by year, like a factory.
Heresy
you say? Let me give you an
illustration. Not too long ago, there
was a study in human intelligence and creativity. They evaluated our capability for divergent
thinking. For example, they took a
simple question such as, "what uses can you come up with for a paper
clip?" This study was conducted across 1500 people. An average person would typically come up
with 10-15 uses, and at the genius level, people would come up with over 200
uses. The first group that was tested
were children in kindergarten. How do
you suppose they did? 98% of them scored
at the genius level. Now this test was
performed over the same group over a number of years; at ages 8-10, and once
more at 13-15. Their creativity
deteriorated greatly as they progressed through the educational system, until
they finally arrived upon the same average results as everyone else.
Now,
please don't hear this as an indictment of our educational system, as that is
not my intent, rather, hear that we are all gifted with the capacity for
unbounded creativity, and it is only through prolonged training that we become
fearful of anything but the correct answer found at the back of the book. But that is not who you are, and it is not
what I require of you.
If we are
to truly deliver singular value to the enterprise, then we have to tap into our
creativity, as the answer at the back of the book is not going to be
enough. But be prepared, as true
innovation is risky, we are going to have to make some mistakes along the
way. But how can we make mistakes, in an
enterprise where we measure every financial transaction down the 100th of a
percent? Well, we have to be creative in
a very rational, business minded way.
Now I know I am raising a lot of questions here, and it may even seem
that I am speaking out of both sides of my mouth. But I am not!
We must have the courage to think outside the nine dots, and the
discipline to carefully mitigate our risks in such a way that successful
execution is assured.
So, to
recap, you are all brought into this world with a genius capacity for
creatively thinking outside the box, I
am not only giving you permission to do so, I require it, and the only
limitation that I am applying it that we have ultimately employ business
rational thinking to ensure that our creative ideas truly deliver value and
that we have done all we can to mitigate the risks and ensure successful
execution and delivery. Now before you
look at me as though I have just asked you to leap an entire building in a
single bound... you’re not really saying that you are willing to be shown-up by
a bunch of kindergartners, are you? And
besides, doesn't that sound like great job description?
What great thing would you attempt if you knew you could not
fail? Ok, now let's go do it anyway!
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